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The  REGENERATION 


of  SAM  JACKSON 


By  J.  W.  CHURCH 

Author  of  “THE  CRUCIBLE” 


Education  is  a means  to  an  end.  The  end  should 
determine  the  means.  The  neglect  of  this  is  the  rock 
upon  which  thousands  are  wrecked. 

S.  C.  ARMSTRONG 


'The  REGENERATION 


of  S A M JACKSON 


By  J . W . C H URCH 

Author  of  “ THECRUCI  B L E ” 


The  Press  of 

Hie  Hampton  Normal  and  Agrricultural  Institute 
Hampton,  Virginia 
1911 


BOARD  OF  TRUSTEES 


Robert  C.  Ogden,  President,  New  York 
Alexander  McKenzie,  Vice  President,  Cambridge.  Mass. 
Francis  G.  Peabody,  Vice  President,  Cambridge,  Mass. 
Hollis  B.  Frissell,  Secretary,  Hampton,  Va. 

George  Foster  Peabody,  New  York 
Charles  E.  Bigelow,  New  York 
Arthur  Curtiss  James,  New  York 
William  Jay  Schieffelin,  New  York 
Lunsford  L.  Lewis,  Richmond,  Va. 

James  W.  Cooper,  Hartford,  Conn. 

William  W.  Frazier,  Philadelphia 
Frank  W.  Darling,  Hampton,  Va. 

William  Howard  Taft,  Washington,  D.  C. 

Clarence  H.  Kelsey,  New  York 
Samuel  C.  Mitchell,  Columbia,  S.  C. 


FORM  OF  BEQUEST 

I give  and  devise  to  the  trustees  of  The  Hampton  Normal 
and  Agricultural  Institute,  Hampton,  Virginia,  the  sum  of 
dollars,  payable 


i>A.\I  JAC  KSON  WAS  LITERALLY  "RAW  MATERIA!.' 


The  Hampton  Normal  and  Agricultural  Institute 


HOLLIS  B.  F R ! £ S E L L 
PRINCIPAL 


rt'ANK  K ROGERS 
TREASURER 


HEREERT  E TURNER 
chap.ain 


Founded  by  Samuei  Chapman  Armstrong  in  1868  for  the  prac- 
tical education  of  Negro  and  Indian  youth. 

To  make  earnest,  useful.  Christian  citizens,  who  will  lead  and 
teach  their  people,  is  its  object. 

The  needs  of  the  school  are  many,  and  its  support  depends 
almost  entirely  upon  private  contributions. 

Any  amount  you  may  desire  to  contribute,  no  matter  how 
small,  will  be  gratefully  received. 

In  providing  a Hampton  scholarship  for  some  deserving 
Negro  boy  or  girl,  you  will  give  your  donation  a human, 
personal  element,  as  a record  is  kept  for  the  donor  of  the 
student  who  receives  the  scholarship. 

One  hundred  dollars  pays  the  tuition  of  a student  for  one 
year,  including  an  academic  and  industrial  scholarship. 

Thirty  dollars  will  provide  an  industrial  scholarship  for  one 
year. 

Seventy  dollars  will  provide  an  academic  scholarship  for  one 
year. 

A permanent  industrial  scholarship  can  be  endowed  for  eight 
hundred  dollars  and  a permanent  academic  scholarship 
for  two  thousand  dollars. 

All  contributions  may  be  sent  to  the  Treasurer,  F.  K.  Rogers, 
Hampton,  Va.,  by  whom  they  will  be  acknowledged. 


A DIRTY  CABIN,  SQUATTING  IN  A SUN-BAKED  CLEARING 

The  Regeneration  of  Sam  Jackson 

By  J.  W.  CHURCH 

Author  of  '“The  Crucible'1 

F by  any  chance  you  live  in  the  South,  you  know 
Sam  Jackson. 

That  is,  you  knew  him  before  he  left  his 
cabin  in  the  “piney  woods.”  Sam  was  born 
lucky,  tho  a most  careful  study  of  his  early  environment 
would  fail  to  convince  you  of  it.  A dirty,  unhealthy  log  cabin, 
squa’ting  in  a sunbaked  clearing  surrounded  by  a few  acres  of 


sickly  cotton,  a couple  of  razor-backed  hogs,  and  a discouraged 
hound  dog  made  up  about  all  the  landscape  with  which  he 
was  intimately  familiar.  Of  course  his  own  family  added 
somewhat  to  the  picturesqueness  of  the  scene,  there  being 
about  a dozen  of  them.  Eating,  cooking,  and  sleeping  in  the  one 
room  of  the  cabin,  as  they  did,  hardly  served  to  inculcate  any 
very  definite  principles  of  cleanliness  or  morality  in  Sam. 

Not  in  his  environment  was  he  fortunate,  but  in  the  ac- 
cident that  brought  to  the  neglected,  almost  forgotten  country 
school,  three  miles  away,  a teacher  trained  in  the  needs  of  his 
race,  the  spirit  of  service  to  his  people  strong  within  him. 

Yes,  Sam  was  a little  Negro.  Just  one  of  several  millions 
in  the  Southern  States,  the  present  horizon  of  most  of  them 


SAM’s  SCHOOL— NEGLF.CTED,  ALMOST  FORGOTTEN 


6 


bounded  by  a log  cabin,  a patch  of  cotton,  a country  store, 
and  a county  jail. 

Sam's  teacher  wasn't  strong  on  algebra  or  dead  languages. 
Fairly  good  English  and  an  ordinary  working  knowledge  of 
arithmetic,  together  with  a rather  elementary  education  in 
geography  and  history,  marked  the  sum  total  of  his  academic 
accomplishments.  But,  in  spite  of  this,  the  little  Negroes 
whom  he  taught — but  that  isn't  what  I want  to  tell  you. 

For  years  he  labored  patiently  with  Sam,  and,  while  the 
progress  was  slow,  little  by  little  he  fanned  a spark  of  desire 
in  the  boy's  brain,  so  that  one  day  Sam  Jackson  left  the  piney 
woods,  and  a few  days  later  walked  thru  the  gateway  of 
Hampton  Institute. 

Had  you  met  him  that  eventful  morning,  you  probably 
wouldn't  have  considered  Sam  worth  troubling  about.  A 
poorly  dressed,  unalert  black  boy  with  a sullen  face  isn’t 
particularly  attractive.  The  sullenness,  however,  was  only 
skin  deep,  and  rather  more  of  fright  than  anything  else.  Of 
what  you  call  manners,  that  seem  so  simple  and  elemental,  he 
had  scant  knowledge.  Toothbrushes  and  “ I beg  your  pardon” 
are  not  an  essential  part  of  coaxing  a quarter-bale  of  short 
staple,  low-grade  cotton  out  of  a thin  soil  with  the  aid  of  a 
reluctant  mule. 

But  the  boy  was  possessed  of  grim  determination  to 
learn,  and  Hampton  Institute  gave  him  a hearty  welcome. 
Nowhere  else  in  all  the  world  have  his  needs,  his  particular 
needs,  been  the  earnest  study  of  hundreds  of  trained  men  and 
women  for  two-score  years  as  at  Hampton,  and  what  they 


have  accomplished  is  beyond  any  man's  pen  to  describe. 
You  can  get  an  idea,  tho,  from  what  they  did  for  Sam,  how 
they  did  it,  and  the  fruit  it  has  borne. 

Let  me  interpolate  one  thing  right  here,  which  has  a very 
great  bearing  on  your  thought  as  you  read  this  Story.  Hamp- 
ton's interest  does  not  lie  in  the  success  or  failure  of  the 
individual  Negro.  Service  to  the  Negro  race,  the  missionary 
spirit  that  makes  a man  or  woman  return  in  gratitude  to  the 
less  fortunate  to  spread  the  knowledge  given  him  or  her,  is 
Hampton's  plea  to  its  students  and  graduates.  It  succeeds 
too. 

Hampton  Institute  is  nearing  the  half-century  mark  of  its 
endeavor.  Few,  it  any,  of  its  graduates  are  rich  ; less  than 
two  hundred  have  entered  any  profession  save  that  of 
teaching,  and  none  are  in  jail.  And  there  have  gone  forth 
since  1870  nearly  eight  thousand  graduates  and  undergrad- 
uates, imbued  to  the  core  with  the  Hampton  spirit. 

Let's  see  how  it  worked  with  Sam,  and  why  it's  only  fair 
to  term  him  good  raw  material,  for  he  was,  literally.  Morality, 
as  we  understand  the  term,  was  to  him  an  unknown  principle 
Not  immoral,  but  unmoral — the  reason  for  morality  had  never 
been  made  clear  to  him.  Physically  and  mentally  he  needed 
bathing,  but,  far  more,  to  understand  why.  He  was  lazy.  You 
need  incessant  practice  in  industry  to  make  labor  a habit,  but 
at  that,  if  you  are  set  blindly  at  a task,  the  “why”  unknown, 
it  can  never  be  congenial  or  competently  done.  He  needed 
thrift,  for  his  race,  until  recently  without  possessions,  held 
little  of  value  beyond  the  pleasure  of  the  hour.  And  he 


8 


LEARNING  THE  “ WHY  ” 01  A PLOW 

needed  a broader  view  of  life,  of  the  world,  of  the  things 
worth  while  that  study  may  bring.  Morality,  physical  clean- 
liness, industry,  thrift,  a trade  by  which  to  work  and  earn  and 
save,  a knowledge  of  the  dignity  of  labor,  and  a spirit  of  serv- 
ice to  his  race.  These,  then,  were  Sam  Jackson's  needs.  A 
bit  of  a contract,  you'll  admit.  Now'  I want  to  show  you  how 
it's  done. 

You  may  know  all  about  Hampton.  You  may  even  have 
been  there  If  so,  you  have  seen  and  heard  the  truth  of  this 
story.  If  you  haven't,  there  isn't  much  that’s  more  important 
or  worth  while  to  know. 


9 


THE  GREEN,  COOL  BEAUTY  OE  HAMPTON  INSTITUTE 


Should  you  visit  it  to-day,  you  would  find  a beautiful  in- 
dustrial village.  Wide,  spotless  roads,  shaded  by  giant  elms 
and  maples,  wind  hither  and  thither  amid  broad  stretches  of 
green  lawn  ; everywhere  close-clipt  hedges  mark  the  approach 
to  walks  and  private  lawns  ; everywhere  are  stately  buildings 
and  pretty  cottages,  now  green  with  ivy,  now  half-hidden  be- 
neath flowering,  climbing  vines.  Thousands  upon  thousands 
of  roses  lend  their  perfume  to  the  fragrant  air,  and  over  the 
famous  Hampton  Roads,  whose  blue  waters  lap  the  edges  of 
the  greensward,  the  cool,  salt  breeze  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean 
brings  its  health  and  vigor  to  the  busy  workers  of  Hampton. 

But  glance  backward  a moment,  to  whence  all  this  sprang. 
It  will  help  you  to  understand  it  better.  Forty-four  years 
ago,  this  wondrous  spot  was  a barren  waste,  the  wreck  of  a 
plantation  but  lately  ruined  by  the  Civil  War.  There  was  no 
scent  of  roses  in  the  air,  no  stately  trees  or  vine-clad  homes. 
Just  a crude  barracks,  housing  as  best  it  might  the  infancy  of 
a great  institution.  Here  General  Armstrong,  with  two 
teachers  and  fifteen  pupils,  the  latter  drawn  from  the 
thousands  of  half-clad,  starved  Negroes  clustered  under  the 
frowning  walls  of  Fortress  Monroe,  began  the  work  of  Hamp- 
ton Institute.  It  was  a pitiable  plight,  that  of  these  dazed 
freedmen  at  that  time,  unfit  for  the  freedom  so  swiftly  thrust 
upon  them.  Unable  to  earn  their  living,  bewildered  by  the 
sudden  destruction  of  the  only  sort  of  life  to  which  they 
were  accustomed,  unable  to  return  to  the  old.  and  incapable 
of  living  up  to  the  new  standards  set  for  them.  Volumes  and 
an  inspired  pen  could  not  adequately  describe  the  work  and 


heroic  self-sacrifice  of  General  Armstrong  and  his  little,  brave- 
hearted  band  of  workers  who  gave  themselves  gladly  to  the 
stupendous  task  of  trying  to  teach  another  race  that  freedom 
was  not  license,  but  the  opportunity  to  be  of  service  to  man- 
kind rather  than  a master. 

Stick  by  stick,  stone  by  stone,  Hampton  Institute  was 
built.  With  infinite  patience,  slowly,  but  steadily,  the  work 
went  on.  Few  at  first,  but  in  ever  increasing  numbers,  the 
Negro  men  and  women  came,  and  in  turn  went  forth,  and  by 
their  industry  and  lives  proved  Hampton’s  work  to  be  good. 
Each  succeeding  year  found  a better  knowledge  of  the  prob- 
lems to  be  met,  and  new  problems  added  to  those  already 
solved.  Year  by  year  was  the  equipment  augmented,  the 
power  of  the  school  increased,  and  a greater  struggle  necessary 
to  pay  the  bills. 

A few  years  ago,  when  Sam  Jackson  arrived,  he  found 
awaiting  him  a master  builder  of  human  character,  surround- 
ed by  two  hundred  able  assistants,  and  every  mental  and 
physical  device  to  transform  the  sluggish  raw  material  into  an 
alert,  well-disciplined,  competent  product  of  the  greatest  boon 
of  this  century,  or  any  other,  for  that  matter — practical  indus- 
trial training 

He  found  a dormitory,  with  spotless  pine  floors  in  rooms 
and  halls,  to  be  scrubbed  until  they  shone  : a room,  cot,  and 
bedding  to  be  kept  in  perfect  order  ; a bathtub  and  toothbrush 
to  be  regularly  employed  He  found  a uniform  to  wear  and 
care  for,  and  a battalion,  without  guns,  to  be  sure,  but  with 
rigid  discipline,  to  which  he  must  conform.  Tobacco,  liquor, 


WHERE  SAM  LEARNED  ORDER  AND  CLEANLINESS 

cards,  and  all  dubious  amusements  were  taboo.  Courtesy  be- 
tween the  students  themselves  he  found  to  be  the  order  of 
each  day.  Just  as  the  Negro  is  apt  in  vice,  so  is  he  to  imitate 
and  eventually  absorb  the  better  conduct  of  life,  and  Sam's 
new  ideas  of  physical  and  moral  cleanliness  were  so  gradually 
absorbed  that  he  scarcely  noted  the  change.  At  five-thirty 
each  weekday  morning  he  rose  and  went  directly  from  his 
breakfast  to  his  work.  There  are  fifteen  trades  to  choose  from 
at  Hampton,  and  in  each  of  these  every  step  of  the  journey 
toward  a skilled  trade  is  carefully  guided  by  patient,  expert 
instructors.  Always  the  “ why  ” of  a task  is  made  clear,  and 
over  and  over  again  the  task  must  be  done  until  there  comes 
a perfect  harmony  between  the  workman  and  his  trade. 

Ij 


SAM  WAS  TAUGHT  THAT  FARMING  IS  A SCIF.XCE 

Agriculture,  in  which  millions  of  Negroes  are  employed 
throughout  the  South,  and  in  which  lies  their  greatest  hope 
for  material  prosperity,  is  the  goal  toward  which  Hampton  is 
striving.  Each  year  sees  a larger  class  entered  in  farming 
and  greater  results  obtained.  There  have  gone  forth  from 
Hampton  Institute  in  the  past  few  years  scores  of  agricultural 
workers,  skilled  in  the  true  science  of  the  farm,  whose  little 
plantations  in  various  parts  of  the  South  are  by  far  the  best 
of  any,  black  or  white,  in  the  community  where  they  live,  and 
whose  trained  industry  has  won  the  admiration  and  respect 
of  all  with  whom  they  come  in  neighborly  contact. 

Sam  Jackson  worked  hard  all  day,  ate  his  supper  at  six 
o’clock,  spent  two  hours,  from  seven  until  nine,  in  the  class- 
rooms, and  was  entirely  ready  for  bed  when  taps  sounded  at 
nine-thirty. 


It  wasn't  all  work,  of  course.  There  was  no  dearth  of 
clean,  muscle-building,  eye-quickening  athletics,  nor  of  earn- 
est religious  training.  Under  these  ever-constant  influences, 
the  raw  material  began  to  develop  morality  and  industry  to  a 
somewhat  amazing  degree.  And  as  his  labor,  during  the 
work  years,  brought  him  eight  cents  an  hour,  and  his  board 
cost  him  eleven  dollars  a month,  thrift  finally  began  to  get  a 
very  fair  stranglehold  on  Sam's  natural  inclination  toward 
improvidence.  His  academic  work,  so  regulated  as  to  correlate 
witth  his  industrial  training,  broadened  his  scope  of  thought, 
and  aided  him  in  finally  comprehending  that  service,  not 
selfishness,  is  the  true  basis  for  a permanent  enjoyment  of 
his  newly  awakened  powers. 

Thus  did  Hampton  solve  the  problem  of  Sam  Jackson, 


RRICKI.AVING  AND  MATHEMATICS  GO  HAND  IN  HAND 


■5 


and  send  forth,  alert  and  vigorous,  the  ignorant,  untrained 
Negro  boy  of  four  years  past. 

There  was  one  element  in  Sam's  training  I haven  t men- 
tioned. It  wasn’t  overlooked.  Rather,  it  is  of  such  tremendous 
importance  that  even  when  dealt  with  separately,  only  those 
who  have  visited  Hampton  Institute  will  understand.  And 
they  never  forget  it.  It  is  the  atmosphere,  the  real,  tho  intan- 
gible influence  of  self-sacrifice,  devotion  to  cause  and  principle, 
of  hundreds  of  men  and  women  for  half  a century. 
It  permeates  the  village,  an  all-encompassing  atmosphere  of 
cheerful  earnestness,  unceasing,  patient  endeavor,  and  honest 
content.  And  of  this  is  born  the  “ Hampton  spirit,  of  which 
every  teacher  and  student  is  justly  proud. 

In  the  files  in  the  Bureau  of  Statistics  are  hundreds  of 
sheets,  covered  thickly  with  the  records  of  work  done  by 
those  who  have  gone  forth.  Without  having  felt  the  Hampton 
spirit,  some  of  the  stories  they  tell  seem  well-nigh  incompre- 
hensible. When  you  yourself  have  known  it,  then  you 
understand. 

Now  I want  to  leave  Sam  Jackson,  who  is  Sally  as  well, 
and  of  whom  nearly  eight  thousand  have  passed  thro  the  re- 
fining crucible  of  HamptoD,  and  talk  with  you  about  the 
really  big  question  that  lies  back  of  it  all.  DOES  IT  PAY  ? 

Eighteen  years  ago  General  Armstrong  died,  leaving 
Hampton  Institute  as  a monument  to  his  great  task.  Dr.  H.  B. 
Frissell,  for  many  years  his  assistant,  succeeded  him.  and  un- 
der his  guiding  hand  the  work  has  gone  steadily  on.  To-day 
the  student  roll  numbers  nearly  one  thousand,  and  the 


strengthening  influence  of  the  school  is  felt  in  nearly  every 
state  in  the  Union,  but  most  of  all  where  it  is  most  needed, 
in  the  South. 

Few  men,  either  North  or  South  of  Mason  and  Dixon’s 
line,  deny  the  seriousness  of  what  is  termed  the  Negro  problem. 
Of  theories  as  to  its  elimination  or  solution  there  are  thou- 
sands, but  every  practical  man.  be  he  from  the  North  or  South 
who  has  given  the  question  sincere,  earnest  thought,  agrees 


A BATTALION  TO  WHOSE  RICH)  DISCIPLINE  HE  MUST  CONFORM 

that  in  the  last  analysis  it  becomes  a matter  of  education. 
Not  some  visionary  scheme  by  which  a wondrous  latter-day 
miracle  is  to  be  wrought,  nor  a standard  curriculum  to  which 
all  Negroes,  willy  nilly.  must  fit  or  be  fitted.  Not  in  these, 
but  in  the  sort  of  training  Sam  Jackson  got,  lies  the  future 
hope  of  the  Negro  race. 

If  Hampton  simply  sent  out  into  the  world  eight  thousand 
'7 


Negroes  equipped  to  earn  their  own  living  by  skillful  indus- 
trial work,  I would  call  it  good,  worthy,  and  let  it  go  at  that. 
But  when  the  almost  boundless  ramifications  of  its  work  are 
known,  when  one  thinks  of  the  scores  of  little  Hamptons  its 
graduates  and  undergraduates  have  founded  to  spread  its  work 
as  best  they  may,  from  Booker  Washington  at  Tuskegee  to 
many  an  unknown  worker  in  some  almost  unknown  village, 
yet  one  and  all  with  the  Hampton  spirit  strong  within  them, 
then  does  Hampton's  work  assume  its  proper  importance  in 
the  world  scheme  of  things  worth  while. 

In  view  of  this,  and  much  more  that  a volume  could  but 
inadequately  tell,  the  question  ‘ Does  it  pay?"  strikes  you 
as  rather  absurd,  doesn't  it  ? Yet  when  you  know  the  tre- 
mendous strain  of  meeting  each  year  a deficit  of  more  than 
one  hundred  thousand  dollars,  in  order  that  the  work  may  go 
on,  that  aid  many  not  fail  those  whose  need  is  dire.it  ceases  to 
be  as  absurd  as  you  might  think.  Altho  Hampton  has  the  full 
moral  support  of  the  National  Government,  and  of  the  state  in 
which  it  is  located,  its  income  from  these  sources  is  relatively 
small  It  is  really  a private  institution,  and  must  depend  al- 
most entirely  upon  individual  subscriptions  for  its  existence- 

Its  future  lies  entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  men  and 
women  of  this  country  who  believe  in  its  work,  and  whose 
vision  is  sufficiently  clear  to  see  that  in  the  regeneration  of 
Sam  Jackson  lies  not  only  the  truest  and  best  hope  for  the 
mental,  moral,  and  physical  prosperity  of  the  Negro  race,  but 
an  era  of  better  understanding  between  black  men  and  white, 
both  of  whose  interests  are  best  served  by  kindly  considera- 
tion of  each  other's  needs. 

iS 


I HK  FINISHED  PRODUCT— ALERT,  THOl'GHTFUL,  VIGOROUS— 
AN  HONOR  TO  HIS  RACE 


